High School Graduation
Mom recollects Aunt Vinnie telling the following story. What made the moment so memorable was that no one knew a "joke" was coming until Aunt Vinnie, always quite prim, proper, quiet, and reticent, closed with the punch line.
Aunt Vinnie's story: A woman returned from shopping with a gorgeous dress. Her husband remarked, "That must have been quite expensive." His wife responded, "It was." The husband continued, "Couldn't you have said, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.' " She replied, "I did, but he said that it looked good from that angle, too."
Uncle Clement Witnesses
Famous Bascom Hall Fire
Aunt Margaret (Uncle Henry's wife),
Aunt Vinnie, Uncle Clement
Aunt Vinnie was from Sterling; her parents owned farms. She taught Home Ec at Sterling High School. Uncle Clement met her in Sterling. When she moved to Stoughton to teach Home Ec, Uncle Clement "followed" her by taking classes, such as microbiology, at UW Madison.
Aunt Vinnie's brother died young and left 2 daughters. Because their mother had to work, the girls summered with Uncle Clement and Aunt Vinnie.
Uncle Clement and Aunt Vinnie wintered in St. Petersburg for decades. When in their 90's, alluding to the reason they no longer went, Aunt Vinnie remarked to my mom, "All our friends are dead. I am 'The Last Leaf' on the tree."
From the Mt. Vernon Hotel, 219 Fourth Avenue North, St. Petersburg, Florida, Uncle Clement wrote this note to grand nephew David Hey who had inquired about how Uncle Clement made money since he was able to have plenty to give away.
